Posts Tagged ‘music’

As a belated tribute to Labor Day, we offer a smorgasbord of items about work, worker safety, and some of our favorite tributes to workers.Celebrating the American WorkerAmerica at Work – Alan Taylor compiles superlative photo essays for The Atlantic’s In Focus series. This collection of images from the recent Recession and its years of uncertainty — of men and women both at work and out of work in the United States.Earl Dotter, Photojournalist – A remarkable portfolio of work documenting American workers. In the author’s words:
“For more than thirty five years the camera had enabled me to do meaningful work. Starting with Appalachian coal miners, and continuing through the years over a broad array of occupations in all regions of the country, I have observed and documented the working lives of Americans. Standing behind the lens, I have celebrated their accomplishments. I seek out those who are taking steps to improve their lives and their effectiveness at work, and use the camera to engage them by giving testimony to their achievements. The images that result tell of the satisfactions their work brings as well as its everyday challenges.”Lost Labor – For more than 20 years, visual artist Raymon Elozua has been assembling a vast collection of company histories, pamphlets, and technical brochures that document America’s industrial history. This site features 155 photos from that collection – images of factories, machinery, and laborers hard at work. Many of the jobs depicted have faded into history. The artist grew up in the South Side of Chicago in the shadow of the giant steel mills and factories. His dad worked at U.S. Steel and his first job was at U.S. Steel, triggering a life long interest in everything about these industrial behemoths, from the architecture to the people who worked the jobs within. His interest in documenting this bygone era of American working life was sparked by the demise of the South Works industries.Worker SafetyHard Labor – The Center for Public Integrity says: “Each year, some 4,500 American workers die on the job and 50,000 perish from occupational diseases. Millions more are hurt and sickened at workplaces, and many others are cheated of wages and abused. In the coming months the Center for Public Integrity will publish, under the banner Hard Labor, stories exploring threats to workers — and the corporate and regulatory factors that endanger them.”
In particular, we point you to two recent stories:Fishing deaths mount, but government slow to cast safety net for deadliest industryKentucky death case: Another black eye for state workplace safety enforcementThe Best Reporting on Worker Safety – ProPublica compiled “12 pieces of great reporting on workplace safety: from slaughterhouse diseases to lax regulatory oversight and deadly vats of chocolate.”Workers in Popular Culture

For Labor Day Weekend, Peter Rotheberg took “a stab at the impossible task of naming the best songs ever written about working people.” He compiled a noteworthy list of the Top Ten Labor Day Songs – a great list with more than a passing nod to some of the labor classics. (Thanks to Jeffrey Hirsch
at the Workplace Prof Blog for pointing us to the enjoyable post).Here’s a few more workings songs we like: